Atlético began its sprint for the Champions League after confinement in Bilbao
UpdatedOn June 14, 2020, football returned after months of confinement. Nothing made us think that months later some things would have changed so much and others so little. In ten months, much progress has been made in the fight against the pandemic, so much so that we are already vaccinating. Although 2020 has left us with many sequels, the end can be glimpsed. In those ten months, Atlético has gone from starting an eleven-game mini-league at the Nuevo San Mamés to save the season and enter the Champions League, to playing the first of the last six games that could lead to a League title. Almost nothing.
Simeone's men appear in Bilbao to face Marcelino's Athletic and they do so by leading the standings with 73 points. Three more than he achieved in the entire past year. That June morning, Atlético did have a very complicated challenge ahead of them. Sevilla, Getafe, Real... They all started ahead of him in that sprint for the Champions League. Rarely had an Atlético led by Simeone been presented with such an uphill climb for the top continental tournament. Ten months later, that team in transition is leading LaLiga with six games to go.
The New San Mamés as the starting point for a new exciting final stretch. Last season the rojiblancos returned after the rush of Liverpool. The fight to return to the Champions League was a reality check. The first Atlético post Griezmann, Godín, Juanfran, Filipe, Lucas, Rodri... was a team far from what it is today. In ten months, the rojiblancos have gone from struggling to barely reach the goal set by the club, to having achieved it with eight games to play.
Eleven games that the rojiblancos resolved with seven wins and four draws. The first of the four, against Athletic. Goal by Diego Costa. Definitely, a lot has changed in rojiblanca life in these ten months. Now, they only have six matches left and the loot they fight for is much higher. The league title as the final prize of a season as complicated as 20/21 and everything that has surrounded it.
